It's About Time
by queenofspades72
Summary: Written for a prompt on tumblr: "Henry comes home from school one day to find Regina and Emma making out." Sorry for all of the stories, I'm just reposting everything I posted there already on here. This was my first story ever.


Henry knew his mother always had someone in her back pocket—someone she pretended she was with to satisfy her desire to control others and act as though she was in a satisfactory relationship. After Graham had died—and yes, he HAD figured out Graham's purpose in his mother's life—he supposed it was only a matter of time before she found a replacement.

He considered all of this as he walked home from school. Normally Henry's mother, or even Emma occasionally these days, would have come to pick him up. But his mom had told him that morning that she had a meeting in the afternoon, and he hadn't seen Emma all day, so he decided just to walk home. A meeting. Henry scoffed. His mother still believed her son gullible enough to fall for that after all of these years. Council meetings didn't just spring up unannounced last minute on a Monday afternoon.

No—it was almost certain that his mom had seduced some new poor soul into a meaningless relationship. But who?

Henry thought back to their conversation before school that morning.

"_Henry, you're going to be late for school!" Regina yelled impatiently. Dressed in a suit and heels, she tapped her foot impatiently as she stood at the bottom of the stairs._

_Henry rolled his eyes, grabbed his backpack, and ran down the stairs. He normally didn't care the least about upsetting his mother, but he could tell she was in no mood for games this morning. So he rushed as quickly as he could. He almost missed his mother's nervous glance up toward her closed bedroom door as he skidded to a stop in front of her._

"_Do you have your homework?" Henry nodded. His mom gave him an impatient look. "I won't be able to pick you up this afternoon. I have a meeting. I want you to take the bus. Got it? No stops on your way home either." Her voice was clipped and brisk—she really was in a hurry._

"_Why can't I just ask Emma to bring me home?" Another glance up to her bedroom before Regina met her son's eyes._

"_If you can find that woman actually doing her duty at the Sherriff's office this morning, I suppose you could ask her for a ride."_

_Henry looked confused. Since when was his real mom NOT in her office in the morning? But he just turned toward the door and ran out to catch the bus. Regina sighed. Not even a goodbye today._

Henry passed the Sherriff's office on his way home from school. He popped in to see if Emma was there now—since, as his mom predicted, she HADN'T been that morning. He only found Ruby sitting there, filling in for Emma as she had been in her free time ever since she had resumed her position at the diner.

"Where's Emma?" he asked suspiciously.

Ruby greeted him with a bright, perky smile. "She called in sick today, so I've been filling in."

Henry turned around without another word and left. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't figure out why it was there. He ran to Mary Margaret's, hoping to catch Emma there. He wanted some time with his real mom before Regina figured out he had taken a detour on the route home.

He was breathless when he reached the door, but he knocked firmly three times. Mary Margaret answered.

"Henry! What are you doing here?" She looked at him, slightly concerned when she saw the little boy out of breath and with red tingeing his cheeks.

"Hi Miss Blanchard… is… is Emma here?" he ignored her question and asked his own.

"I'm afraid she's still at the office," his teacher replied. "She left a note saying she would be working late today, and not to worry. You might go there if you'd like to see her." She gave him a knowing smile.

Henry didn't return it, though. He just turned and ran, leaving a perplexed Mary Margaret staring after him, concerned.

Henry ran for the diner, and didn't look back. When he reached Granny's, he settled into a booth near the back, pulling the large book of fairytales from his backpack as he did so.

A waitress he had never seen before came by to ask if he needed anything. Henry asked for a glass of water to be polite, but mostly he just wanted to be left alone with the book and his thoughts.

He studied the entire book, focusing on the end. Emma. What WAS her purpose in Storybrooke? He had thought she would start the final battle. Defeat his mother. Kill the queen. But—but what if he was wrong? She was here to break the curse—of that, he was certain. But what if the curse was broken not through violence and fighting, but another way? Thoughts swirled in his head until he felt sick.

"You know, true love's kiss can break any curse."

Henry looked up, startled. August stood there with unreadable eyes and a half smile gracing his face.

"Wha… what?" Henry asked, truly puzzled by this stranger who continued to address him.

"Think about it." August turned toward the bar and took up residence there with a drink.

And at that point, everything made sense. It all fell into place—how to break the curse, who Emma was and what her purpose was in Storybrooke, how his mother would finally be defeated—it all made sense now. And he couldn't help the profound sense of relief that washed over him with the knowledge that Storybrooke's citizens were now officially headed down the path to redemption.

He grabbed his book and backpack and ran for the door, a vague, "Thanks," shouted over his shoulder to the mysterious man at the counter.

Twenty minutes later, Henry entered his house to find Emma straddling his mother on the stairs, kissing her in the furious manner that Henry had only ever seen in the romantic comedies Regina was fond of watching.

At first, he grimaced slightly, not entirely pleased that he was right, but when both pairs of eyes guiltily shot up to take in the boy at the door, Henry smirked in a manner that could only have been learned from living with Regina for the whole ten years of his life.

"About time," he commented as he stepped around them before running upstairs to his room.


End file.
